EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The University of Evansville track and field team finished fifth on the men's side and 11th on the women's side at the SIUE Cougar Classic on Saturday.

Another program record fell for the Purple Aces on Saturday afternoon at the SIUE Cougar Classic. The men's relay team for the 4x100-meter relay broke their own program record by over a tenth of a second with a finish of 41.13 seconds. UE also had four podium finishes included the relay finish at second place. Evansville picked up two second place finishes along with two third place finishes.

"The men's 4x100m relay squad and the women's 800m entries for this meet exemplified the kind of team camaraderie and cooperation that we are striving for in this program," said Head Coach Dylan Anderson after the meet. "We're very thankful for good weather and encouraged by what lies ahead for us this season."

SPRINTS, HURDLES, & RELAYS
The Aces began their day on the track with the men's 4x100-meter relay where UE finished second, just behind fellow MVC team Southern Illinois. The relay team of junior José Ocampo (Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico), sophomore Connor Shin (Bloomington, Ind. / Bloomington North HS), freshman Myles Terry (Evansville, Ind. / North HS), and sophomore Raymond Felton III (Houston / Clear Brook HS) finished the relay in 41.13 seconds, a PR for the season. The new PR also set a new Evansville program record in the men's 4x100 relay after the group reset the record at the SLU Speed & Power Festival in March.
The Aces then had their first hurdle event of the day as junior Kate Walke (Batesville, Ind. / Oldenburg Academy) placed ninth in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.59 seconds. Felton III then earned his second podium win of the afternoon in the men's 400-meter race finishing third with a time of 48.31 seconds. Terry also finished in the Top 15 in the race at 11^th with a time of 50.74 seconds.

UE's sprints then ended its afternoon in the men's 100-meter dash. Shin had the highest finish at seventh with a time of 11.01 seconds followed by Ocampo in 11^th with a time of 11.21 seconds.

MID-DISTANCE
Evansville's first mid-distance event on Saturday was the 800-meter race. On the women's side sophomore Chase Hayes (Noblesville, Ind. / Western HS) earned a fifth-place finish with a new PR of 2:19.08. The Aces had six other runners finish in the women's 800-meter race. A trio of UE runners finished within a couple positions of each other as freshman Lauren Bradley (Russiaville, Ind. / Western HS) finished 12^th, sophomore Kyndall Anthis (Patoka, Ind. / Princeton Community HS) finished 13^th, and freshman Rebekah Sachs (Milwaukee / Milwaukee School of Languages) finished 15^th.

On the men's side in the 800-meter race sophomore Cedrik Flipo (Beloeil, Quebec) and senior Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn. / Central HS) earned back-to-back podium finishes at second and third. The two set times of 1:51.91 and 1:52.19 to earn the Evansville men's team 14 points. Flipo's time was a new PR and his best 800-meter race of the season while Oulgout also set a PR to replace his strong race from the SLU Billiken Invite.

JUMPS
Sophomore Lilyana Gargano (Hudson, Fla. / Fivay HS) was the only Ace competing in a jump event on Saturday. Gargano competed in the women's high jump and hit the 1.43-meter mark just under her season best.

FIELD
UE began the meet in the field with the men's and women's hammer throws. Sophomore Tyler Cherne (Boardman, Ohio / Boardman HS) placed eighth with a throw of 47.83 meters, less than a meter off his season best. On the women's side freshman Emma Bertel (Franklin, Ind. / Franklin Community HS) had a 26.91-meter throw.

Evansville's women had three compete in the shot put. Bertel had the highest finish with a 9.98-meter throw for 14^th. Junior Holland Morris (Florence, Ky. Randall K. Cooper HS) and senior Kate Howard (Clarksville, Tenn. / Clarksville HS) had throws of 8.78 meters and 6.53 meters. The Aces women also competed in the javelin throw as senior Kaitlyn Sansone (Fairfield, Ohio Mercy McAuley HS) threw for 29.52 meters.

The final field events of the day for UE were the men's and women's discus throw. Cherne was the only men's thrower in the event for Evansville, placing 11^th with a throw of 40.02 meters for a new PR. On the women's side, Bertel, Howard, and Morris all had shot put throws. Bertel finished 14^th with her best throw on the afternoon being 9.98 meters. Morris had a throw of 8.78 meters while Howard threw for 6.53 meters.

UP NEXT
The Aces will head up US-41 to the 2025 Gibson Invitational hosted by Indiana State. The Gibson Invitational will be a three-day event starting on Thursday, April 17 and lasting until Saturday, April 19. UE will compete on Friday and Saturday as Thursday will only be heptathlon events.